Under the moonlight

"Oh, senior brother, it seems you're very confident about tomorrow's negotiations!" Chen Che said jokingly, looking at Xu Ao's upturned lips.

"Why do you say that?" Xu Ao asked, puzzled.

"Look at you, all confident and smug," Chen Che said with a smile, gesturing towards him.

Xu Ao looked at Chen Che and Jiang Ying and said with a smile, "Yes, you are indeed very confident. Tomorrow, the work at the embassy will be handed over to you. If you don't understand anything, just ask your senior sister."

Huang Meng only understood after listening to their conversation that Chen Che and the little girl Jiang Ying next to him were newcomers, and they called Xu Ao and Lin Shuang, who was sitting opposite Xu Ao, "senior brother" and "senior sister".

"Huang Meng, how confident are you about tomorrow's events?" Just as Huang Meng was lost in thought, she suddenly heard someone ask her this question. She looked at Lin Shuang, who was speaking to her, with a serious and earnest expression, which reminded her of her professor during her graduation defense.

Huang Meng sat up straight and looked at Lin Shuang, saying, "Well, that depends on tomorrow's situation. If..."

"So you don't have a complete plan for tomorrow?" Lin Shuang asked before Huang Meng could finish speaking.

Huang Meng looked at her with wide, round eyes, as if questioning her. Faced with such a gaze, Huang Meng felt a slight displeasure. She took a deep breath and slowly said, "Tomorrow we are going to negotiate with the mercenaries. We are dealing with people, and people are unpredictable. I can't know in advance how they will react to what we are going to discuss. We can only adapt to the situation."

"Even if you have to improvise, you still need to know what kind of conversation method can facilitate this negotiation more quickly and effectively. It can't just be like a casual chat, can it?" Lin Shuang seemed to have no intention of letting her off the hook, seizing on the loopholes in her words and continuing to attack.

Huang Meng realized that this woman was clearly targeting her, but she didn't understand why she would make things difficult for her when they had no prior connection. Since the woman's attitude was clear, Huang Meng stopped being polite. She smiled at Lin Shuang and said, "So, what kind of conversation do you think would make those ruthless mercenaries willingly cooperate with us and let our supply ship through? Should I threaten them, intimidate them, or beg them? You should understand better than me that we don't represent ourselves personally. Whatever approach we take depends on their attitude towards us. If they cooperate, we'll reciprocate politely; if they don't, our attitude won't be much better. Are you satisfied with this answer?"

After Huang Meng finished speaking, she stared straight at Lin Shuang, who seemed a little stunned as if she hadn't reacted for a moment. Huang Meng ignored her and sat down to continue flipping through the papers in her hand.

Chen Che sensed a hint of tension in the air. Seeing that no one else spoke, he coughed lightly and said, "In that case, let's adjourn our meeting for now. The city's power has been cut off, so we'll rely on walkie-talkies to communicate with Huang Meng and Senior Brother Xu Ao. Tomorrow, everyone's main task will be to cooperate with the two of them. Okay, that's all for now, meeting adjourned."

A bench scraped across the floor, making a screeching sound. People walked past her from time to time. Huang Meng remained seated, intending to wait until everyone else had left before proceeding. After all, she didn't know them and was only there to help temporarily. It would be awkward to leave with them without speaking to them.

Huang Meng kept her head down, staring blankly at the table in front of her. She only looked up when she estimated that most of the people had left, and then she realized that Xu Ao was still sitting next to her.

"Why haven't you left yet?"

"You didn't leave either, did you?" Xu Ao said, smiling at her.

Huang Meng thought for a moment and then said, "How are we going to get out tomorrow? When I arrived, almost the entire main city was surrounded by mercenaries." Xu Ao rested his chin on his hands and pondered for a moment before saying, "We can only go over there and talk to them." He then turned to look at Huang Meng.

"Are you scared?"

"I'm not afraid, but I am also afraid." Huang Meng thought about telling him how she felt.

"What do you mean?" Xu Ao asked, looking at her small face. She seemed a little worried, staring at the table, pouting, her cheeks puffing out, her hair tucked behind her ears to reveal her small, round ears and a small patch of slender white neck.

“I saw those people when I arrived. Each of them had a submachine gun on their body. Some citizens tried to reason with them, but those people shot them in the forehead without saying a word. I was right behind them at the time. One second someone was alive, and the next second they were dead.”

Huang Meng's mind was filled with the image of the man being carried through the crowd, the bright red hole on his forehead and the blood gushing out. The intense stimulation from that bright red blood made her shudder every time she thought about it.

She bit her lip nervously, her hands unconsciously wrapping around her head as if seeking some sense of security.

The brutal images that kept flooding Huang Meng's mind made her increasingly tense. Those broken, bloody scenes were like a net that tightly ensnared her and kept tightening. She was powerless to break free. As the net continued to tighten, her breathing became more and more rapid, and tears flowed involuntarily, whether for herself or for the countless shattered images in her mind.

Xu Ao didn't know how she, a girl, had survived alone in the midst of war. She had her courage and perseverance, but seeing her now, like a frightened little animal, helplessly wrapping herself up, he felt only heartache.

Xu Ao stood up and walked over to her, stretching out his arms and pulling her into his embrace. Huang Meng fell into a warm, solid space without warning. She unconsciously stretched out her arms to hug this warmth, like a greedy little animal rubbing her head against it.

Xu Ao reached out and touched the top of her head. The soft hair felt great to the touch, and Xu Ao smiled secretly.

Huang Meng still heard the laughter that escaped her lips. She looked up at Xu Ao with a puzzled expression, her eyes misty with moisture, her pupils clear and bright. Her cheeks were slightly flushed from the emotional fluctuations. Xu Ao looked at Huang Meng in his arms and was stunned for a moment. Then he leaned down and, before she could react, he had already placed a deep kiss on the corner of her eye.